First-tier cities to bear the brunt of the Spring Festival travel rush

Updated 2018-02-08 10:46:01

People queue up to enter Guangzhou Railway Station on February 3, 2018. [Photo: China Plus/Li Xiang]

China's first-tier cities are predicted to face the largest travel rush during this year's Spring Festival holiday, reports youth.cn.[Special Coverage]

China's search giant Baidu has released a forecast report for 2018 Spring Festival travel based on a big data analysis. The forecast provides information on traffic conditions and the direction of migration flows during the holiday.

Shandong, Hunan, Anhui, Henan, and Sichuan are the five provinces that have the largest number of people working in other provinces, and so will face the largest waves of returnees in the lead up to the holiday.

First-tier cities including Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Chongqing are expected to have both the largest inflows and outflows of travelers. These cities have large populations of migrant workers, who leave the cities to return home for the Spring Festival holiday. This outward migration will be countered to some degree by a large number of tourists taking the opportunity to travel during the holiday, especially to cities in the south that attract travelers eager to escape the cold northern winter.

The tropical province of Hainan will become the most popular destination for tourists by virtue of its mild climate and clean air, the report says.

The report notes that young people aged from 25 to 30 tend to be late travelers, with most not returning home until two days before Lunar New Year's Eve.